


Middle Ground.

by Sayumi_Kioko



Series: ColdFlash Bingo 2019 [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Barry Allen is The Flash, Coldflash Bingo 2019, Discord: Flarrowverse Shipyard, Flirting, Hero Leonard Snart, M/M, Metahuman Leonard Snart, Thief Barry Allen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-04 08:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18340301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sayumi_Kioko/pseuds/Sayumi_Kioko
Summary: ColdFlash Bingo 2019 - Role Reversal.Central City’s hero was the most beloved man in the city. He always showed up where he was needed and he never let a criminal get away. He was smart and powerful, and his team helped him when they could.He always joked with his team that people would freak out if they found out that Citizen Cold had been an international thief until the accident. When he woke up from freaking hibernation and saw what his precious city had become, he decided that something needed to change.





	Middle Ground.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everybody! I hope you're having a good day! :)
> 
> This one comes from the Flarrowverse Shipyard. "[150] A beautiful letter to 'the current occupant' arrives. Inside is a red, silk handkerchief and an adrdress on a card."
> 
> I don't have much else to say, so I'll do what I always do and I'll thank [SheWhoWalksUnseen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWhoWalksUnseen/profile) for beta-ing this work too.
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoy this fic~  
>    
> 

Central City’s hero was the most beloved man in the city. He always showed up where he was needed and he never let a criminal get away. He was smart and powerful, and his team helped him when they could.

He always joked with his team that people would freak out if they found out that Citizen Cold had been an international thief until the accident. When he woke up from freaking hibernation and saw what his precious city had become, he decided that something needed to change.

Metas were terrorizing the citizens and there was nothing the police could do about it, so he put on a mask and his parka and faced them. At the beginning it had been a bit difficult because he wasn’t sure how to use his powers without damaging anybody, but after a few months he was unstoppable.

No one could run away from him. Not at least until that speedster appeared for the first time and went away before Leonard could even speak. Mick had laughed like he was crazy when he saw the hero’s clueless face.

The guy was robbing a jewelry shop without any rush when Leonard stepped in. He was opening his mouth to say something smart and snarky but when he blinked the criminal wasn’t there anymore and a lot of goods had disappeared.

Unluckily for the hero, that thief continued stealing from time to time and only once Leonard got to ice him to the ground. The hero thought that he finally had trapped the speedster, but the guy vibrated his body and escaped again wiith everything he wanted to steal.

It was frustrating for Leonard to face that guy because he didn’t stand a chance. It was a challenge, though, so a part of him loved trying to catch him over and over, even if he didn’t get to arrest him. Mick said more often than not that Leonard got hard thinking about all those times the thief got away.

The arsonist wasn’t completely wrong. That guy wasn’t harming anybody and the suit the speedster wore left very little to the imagination. That criminal was hot and if Leonard met the guy some time and discovered that he was also smart, he wasn’t sure he would be able to arrest him. He wasn’t a freaking saint.

One day, when he got home after a long afternoon dealing with a stupid meta he saw a letter over the living room table and a little box wrapped on lightning bolt paper and a beautiful red bow. In the letter was only written _‘to the current occupant’_ an address, but in the box was a red, silk hankie.

There was no date or hour in the letter, but Leonard guessed that it didn’t matter anyways. He was pretty sure who was the one giving him such a gift and the guy was fast. He also probably would have cameras on the place he wanted Leonard to go, so the second he knew the hero was there, the speedster would be there too in a few seconds.

Cold went to sleep after a quick shower and tried not to think too much about the thief. It was something to be aware of that the guy knew where he lived. That meant that he knew who he was, too, and Leonard didn’t know a single thing about him. He wasn’t sure if he was in danger or not.

The hero shrugged it off, because if the speedster wanted to kill him or hurt him, he would already have. There was no use in being worried or overthinking because that criminal wanted to play with him.

The next day he made sure to tell both Mick and Lisa where he was going to go, but he insisted on going alone. Leonard would call them if something happened or if the felt he was in danger.

He thought about wearing his costume, but the speedster already knew who he was, or at least he could find out very easily, Besides, wearing his parka and the mask would be fairly showy in a busy neighborhood like the one where the address was.

On the other hand, though, he wasn’t sure that the thief really knew what his face looked like, and there was also the fact that they were attending a masquerade. Probably the guy thought too about wearing his own costume or his mask.

At the end, he wore a navy suit and bought a blue domino mask that covered the upper half of his face. It had three big feathers in the right side that would keep people’s eyes away of the part of his face that was visible.

When he arrived at the address, the first thing he did was look for every door and window and cased the place. It was an old habit from when he was just a thief, but it was very useful when he was getting ready for a fight. If he knew where he was fighting, he would have more advantages.

“Are you comfortable enough?” A voice asked next to him. “I didn’t want you to start a fight or run away the second you saw me, so I let you have a look at this place.”

When Leonard turned around, he saw the other man wearing a very nice black tuxedo and a deep red domino mask, very similar to his. The guy had good taste at least, but he didn’t trust him and he was eager to know the speedster’s intentions towards him.

“Flash.” The hero drawled. “Tell me, why should I let you walk free instead of arresting you here and now?”

“Because I wouldn’t let you and because I’d steal these fine people’s goods and put them in your pockets.” The thief explained in amusement. “No one would be surprised to find out Leonard Snart was pick-pocketing. But don’t worry, I just wanted to have a good time.” He offered his hand to the hero. “So dance with me?”

Leonard narrowed his eyes and looked at the other man. The masquerade would last a few days, but what if he had decided not to go or go there a week later? The speedster probably had been guessing and left half his plan up to luck. Or maybe he had studied Leonard to know how he would react and what he would do.

“Fine,” Cold accepted, if only because the thief hadn’t threatened with outing him as Central’s hero. “But only one dance.”

“Come on!” The speedster exclaimed. “Where’s that thief that had everything he wanted?  Why are you so boring now? I mean, I get that thing about saving people and blah, blah, blah, but when was the last time you went out to have some fun?”

Maybe, just maybe, the thief was right. Before he got his powers he went often to a bar he liked and usually got laid. Since he became Citizen Cold he only went to Saints & Sinners from time to time and only to get information. He couldn’t remember the last time he had sex.

“ _Fine._ ” Leonard growled and sighed, defeated. He needed to do something with his social life because at the moment, it was quite sad. “Let me just send some texts so my team doesn’t worry.”

“Say hello to Lisa and Mick!” The speedster smiled and really, it was sweeter than it should be. Especially because that thief just told him that he knew the only people in the world that were important to him. “I hope I can meet them some day, they seem nice.”

“They won’t be if you try to hurt them. Or me.”

“Why would I do that, Lenny?” The speedster asked patiently, with a soft smile on his face. “I can do a lot of things before I have to threaten somebody, and I can threaten you with so many things before I need to use violence.” He shrugged. “Hurting people just because is useless, and I’m not a sadist.”

“That doesn’t mean that you won’t hurt people if you need to.”

“And you won’t?” The speedster grabbed the other man when he put his phone in his pocket and dragged him to the dance floor. “I haven’t killed anybody, and I know you can’t say the same, so don’t try to teach me a lesson.”

“You probably would be a better hero than I am.”

“Sure I would, but why bother?” The thief said. “My father, an innocent man, is in prison and yours is free, only God knows where.”

The hero tensed, remembering Lewis but took a deep breath. That monster didn’t deserve any kind of respect or fear, he just deserved to be forgotten and, hopefully, Lewis would forget them too.

“I help the police to arrest dangerous people that they can’t face.” Leonard replied. “This is my city and if anyone else is going to protect it, then I will. This is my home.”

“And you’re doing just fine, you don’t need my help.” The thief smirked. “Now let’s stop talking about this and let’s focus on dancing and getting to know each other, okay?”

“Oh, if that’s what we’re going to do….” The hero led their steps while dancing. “Then why don’t you tell me what’s your name?”

“Because I like it when you call me Scarlet or Red, it’s cute.” The other replied with a soft blush that Leonard wasn’t sure was real of if he was hallucinating. “But if you want to know it so bad… I’m Barry. Good luck finding out my last name.”

For some reason, Cold believed him.  After that they kept dancing for a while, talking about other matters. Nothing too personal, but some things they liked or experiences they had lived.

Barry was the one that was talking the most to Leonard’s surprise, but he didn’t complain. The speedster was very careful not to say other names or something that would help the hero to learn his identity, but otherwise he was sharing a lot.

It was actually refreshing being with someone like the thief, and by the time he went back home, he was glad that he decided to meet the speedster. Barry was really something else and it was surprising that a man so cheerful was a criminal. He personally didn’t know anybody like him.

When he told Lisa and Mick about all that happened they teased him, especially his sister. The arsonist called him a softie and an idiot, but he wasn’t mad and all of them knew it.

Only a couple of weeks later he found another letter on his table when he arrived at his house. On top of it there was a crimson red rose and the hero didn’t know what to think about it. When he read the letter, though, he swallowed hard.

_“Rob a bank with me and I’ll help you out with a meta.”_

Under the message there was a phone number, one that probably would be from a burner phone and Leonard took a deep breath. There was no way that he could refuse that tempting offer. God knew how much he missed doing heists.

After some talks and texting, both Mick and Lisa decided they wanted to join them instead of stopping them and Barry agreed. Just thinking about it made him feel his blood pump through his veins with anticipation.

Some part of him wanted to think that it was a trap, that the speedster would set him up to the police, but he still went on. He trusted Barry more than he probably should, and anyways he was going to pay a lot of attention to everything just in case.

“I knew you’d like my plan.” The thief smiled proudly when they were together and about to enter the bank. “I know this isn’t your MO, but I thought you’d appreciate a good challenge.”

“Hey, Speedy.” Mick grunted to catch the speedster’s attention. “You screw Snart over and I’ll burn your skinny ass alive, got it?”

“Uh- Got it.” Barry paled, to Leonard’s amusement. “You don’t need to worry about that, I’m not going to let the police arrest him.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

The conversation ended there because they had to start moving, but judging by the way the speedster was looking at Mick, he surely was still thinking about it by the time they went inside. Leonard was pretty sure that Barry thought that he was being subtle with his flirting and was surprised that the arsonist knew what was happening.

Really, the hero shouldn’t find that so endearing. He did, though, and that’s why he smirked fondly when, a month later, he walked into his house only to find another letter even though they texted each other habitually.

_“Let’s have dinner at Ramon’s tomorrow at seven.”_

When he asked Barry about it, he assured him it wasn’t a date, but after pressing a bit he gave up. Leonard could imagine the beautiful blush on his cheeks while looking at his phone.

The hero thought they would have the place to themselves and that the speedster would wear his mask, but he was wrong. The restaurant was open, with other customers there, and he found a guy with a familiar smile waiting in the door.

“Hello, Lenny.”

“My, my, Barry.” Cold drawled while looking carefully the other man’s face. “If I knew you were this cute I wouldn’t have let you run away in our first meeting.”

The speedster blushed; it was what Leonard was aiming for. He was very delighted now that he could see the whole picture instead of only his cheeks turning red.

“Shut up or I’ll make you pay.” Barry grumbled but didn’t turn his face to look anywhere else. “And I’m warning you, I tend to eat a lot.”

The hero chuckled and nodded, following the other man into the restaurant.  Leonard was pretty confident that both of them were on the same page and he was glad he didn’t have to hide who he really was.

Usually, the people who wanted to date Leonard Snart expected him to be ruthless and cruel, and the people interested in Citizen Cold put him on a pedestal. Now, though? The speedster was like him, standing on middle ground. Not a villain, not a true hero, but they could work with that.

After all, no one would end up hurt if Leonard decided to steal some paintings or rob a museum from time to time. On the contrary, the whole city could benefit from having a speedster like Barry fighting metas by Cold’s side.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading! Hi hope you liked this work! ^w^ 
> 
> I'll be updating soon the last chapter of [Make It Worth It.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17502491/chapters/41226983) so go and read it!
> 
> Also, comments and kudos are high appreciated! Let me know what you think about this fic! :)
> 
> See you soon! <3


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